"Miss, there's a campfire here that was put out not too long ago. Looks like there's another group ahead of us."
The doctor skillfully stirred the covered ashes—not out of idle hands, but to search for any remaining embers. If she could find some, getting a fire going would be much easier.
Out in the wild, lighters weren't exactly reliable. For safety and stability, flint was always carried.
But when it came to starting a fire with that thing… well, its efficiency left something to be desired.
"Oh, how fortunate. Seems the ones who lit this knew how to preserve the embers. Miss, why don't you all head inside the cabin first? I'll take care of the fire."
"Alright, thank you."
Ardan gave her a nod, then led her assistant toward the small hut.
"Miss, this door is new. Look at the color contrast and the sharpness of the grain—it can't have been installed more than a day ago."
"It must have been Nearl's group who put it up. Seems they're following that unwritten tradition."
Pushing open the wooden door, they found the interior empty but far from neglected. Dust lay thick in some spots, but that was only because those areas weren't in use. The main hall was more than enough—filled with such lively energy that Ardan could almost feel its warmth.
Anyone who'd ever taken shelter in an abandoned building knew that a truly vacant, unlived-in place carried an atmosphere not much different from a graveyard. But if someone still cared for it, that touch of life was unmistakable.
"We're close now. We should catch up tomorrow. Though the third rest area is still quite a distance away—likely two days' journey."
Setting down her pack and pulling out the bedding, Ardan looked forward to the coming day.
"Ahem! Cough, cough!"
Suddenly, a few sharp coughs shattered the quiet.
"Miss?"
The assistant turned around immediately, alert. Ardan pressed a hand lightly to her chest, then smiled and shook her head.
"It's probably just a scratchy throat. These past few days of climbing have really taken it out of me. I'll turn in early tonight."
--+--
"Ugh, this place is awful. Every time I come through, this stretch is the worst."
Tachyon grumbled as she wiped sticky mucus from her hair. Nearl and the others around her were doing the same.
"I really can't stand that boggy lake area."
"Here, let me help you wipe. No complaining now—when you go exploring, you can't expect to stay spotless."
Holding a towel, Nearl carefully cleaned Tachyon's petite ears, rubbing behind them gently before folding a corner of the cloth, pressing it with her finger, and guiding it into the ear canal, twisting softly to clean all around.
"Mmm…!"
Tachyon felt an intense tickling deep in her ear—a sensation that spread like a virus, almost infecting her very heart.
Now her chest, too, fluttered with a hard-to-restrain, itch-like thrumming.
The ears atop her head moved with a flexibility that felt like extensions of her fingers, curling and fluttering slightly as they pressed down against Nearl's hand, as if unwilling to let go.
"…"
Manhattan Cafe, who had been quietly drying her own hair, froze when she saw this.
Watching her own towel slowly lower, then seeing Tachyon over there blissfully enjoying such attentive service… a dark feeling welled up inside her.
Tachyon had her eyes closed in pure contentment when suddenly she felt someone shaking her shoulder. She cracked one eye open for a peek.
'Oh, it's Cafe.'
The thought drifted through her mind—whether it counted as a sigh, she wasn't sure—but she didn't react at all.
'Never mind, never mind, no time for her. My ears feel so good… I'm getting sleepy…'
A visible anger mark seemed to pop above Cafe's head. Without any courtesy, she scooted right over and plopped down next to Tachyon.
"Nearl, I need help too."
As she spoke, Cafe's ears twitched a few times, as if saying, "Come on, give them a rub!"
"Hey!"
Tachyon's ears shot upright instantly. Her drowsy expression vanished, replaced by a glare directed squarely at Cafe.
"I was here first!"
"Some things don't follow a first-come-first-served rule."
"Something like drying hair definitely does!"
"&@#…*&"
The two began to bicker, locking eyes as if in a standoff—though the real meaning behind those looks was known only to them.
"Sigh, why are you two arguing now?"
Nearl helplessly put away her towel. Best to let them cool off for a bit. No matter which side she spoke up for now, it'd probably just add fuel to the fire.
Watching from a distance, the two goddesses couldn't stop laughing.
"With a personality like little Nearl's, she's going to have headaches for years to come."
"No, better to think about how many hearts she'll break along the way. Such excessive charm really is a troublesome thing—though with someone like little Nearl, it'd be stranger if no one fell for her."
Nearl turned and gave the two elder sisters a resigned glance, shaking her head briefly. But soon, she seemed to sense something. Her gaze shifted toward the direction they'd come from.
The two goddesses did the same.
"Byerley, it seems today's entertainment might just make us sick of fun."
"Agreed."
They rose to their feet and ambled toward the sticky lakeshore, while Nearl had already stopped there, motionless.
"No mistake. This feeling… it's Ardan. She came mountain climbing too?"
Nearl wasn't sure how to describe what she felt just then. It was… peculiar. Her sister had said that even during peak tourist season, few came to Skyline Mountain. And yet here she was, already running into three familiar faces. The odds were truly absurd.
On the other side of the lake, Ardan's eyesight wasn't as sharp as Nearl's or the others', but sometimes a person carved into your heart could be recognized from just a silhouette—let alone when that person was now waving cheerfully in her direction.
"Nearl… I caught up."
Across Ardan's gentle, water-like beautiful features, a faint, satisfied smile emerged. For her, this journey's destination had already been reached.
"Cough! Cough, cough—! Ugh…!!"
Yet the moment her mind relaxed, the exhaustion from days of forced marching up the mountain surged uncontrollably.
Already frail, and having pushed so hard to catch up, Ardan had spent the last of her strength.
"Miss?!"
The doctor and assistant behind her rushed forward to support her.
"Let me see."
A worried voice came from beside them. The doctor and assistant jumped, tails shooting up, and turned to find a golden-haired Uma Musume.
"Y-you—weren't you on the other side of the lake? How did you get here so fast?!"
"Now isn't the time for that. Please, let me check her condition."
This was perhaps one of the rare moments when Nearl showed clear urgency. She had no patience to answer the assistant's confusion, focusing entirely on Ardan.
A hand pressed to the forehead, then tested the warmth of her breath. Next, one hand lifted the clothing to rest against her left side, while the other performed palpation on her wrist.
The motions weren't perfectly practiced, yet they flowed with a seamless, almost visual grace.
On the other side, the doctor had just opened her medical kit when she witnessed this whole sequence, her expression shifting to one of surprise.
"This kind of simple diagnosis without tools… not many bother to learn it nowadays. To be this skilled is even rarer. Truly impressive."
"How is she?"
The assistant pressed anxiously.
Nearl's brow remained lightly furrowed as she continued her assessment, not lifting her gaze.
"Fatigue, mild hypoxia, and some phlegm obstruction in the airways. She needs rest, warmth, and observation—but no immediate danger."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.